By: Stewart Hope, D.O.M.P.
I have been recently asked about the difference between Chiropractic and Osteopathy? This is my outlook as an Osteopathic manual practitioner.
We both work on the skeletal (bone) alignment and that makes some wonder who to go to. The reality is that we have the same goal, to free your body’s restrictions as much as possible so your bones are not pushing against nerves, lymph and/or blood vessels. Without proper innervation or circulation of fluids … organs, muscles and tissues can be weakened or the opposite, overstimulated. Neither is a good situation.
Chiropractors focus their skills on the spine and hips and even more, such as your wrist or ankles. This is a direct way to work on skeletal alignment and an indirect way of treating other parts of the body. Depending on their background or other training, many chiropractors have added other modalities to their skill set to help relax muscles and soft tissue as well.
Osteopaths also adjust your spine, hips and other bones. Usually using different styles of techniques. All with the same goal. Along with your skeletal alignment, osteopaths work using both direct and indirect methods to help remove restrictions in the soft tissue, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, lymph flow and other potential areas affecting your body. As many health issues begin internally restricting local tissue, muscle and bones, many osteopaths spend a good portion of assessment and treatment time on visceral manipulation, cranial osteopathy and soft tissue release. Osteopaths are trained to fine-tune their sense of touch to feel the subtle pulls in muscles, soft tissue and fascia that are caused by restrictions in the body. They also are continually noting the rhythm or lack of rhythm in your cranial rhythm, respiratory rhythm, visceral rhythm and other differences in your body’s tissues. This aids in pinpointing areas needing treatment.
Both modalities are trained to recognize health issues that are in need of hospital care or need specialized equipment such as x-rays, ultrasounds, MRIs or blood tests, which would be orchestrated by your doctor. This may be the necessary treatment, or more information might be needed to rule out issues that contraindicate treatment. In both cases, the goal is to help free your body to move better and function more efficiently.
This is in no way an exhaustive list of what each modality does. Ask other health professionals or your friends to see what has been most helpful to them.